North Dakota DOT Launches ‘Track-A-Plow Program’

Ever wondered where the plows were along North Dakota highways? Now you can find out.

The North Dakota Department of Transportation has launched a pilot program called 'Track-A-Plow.'

Select snow plows have been equipped with 'Automated Vehicle Location Systems' that automatically alerts people where snow plows are at any given moment while also giving the direction in which they are traveling.

ND DOT says that signals are transmitted via a a cellular signal so in theory if a snow plow is in a poor service area, it may not send out the signal.

ND DOT has 350 snow plows total however at the moment only 47 plow trucks are equipped with the technology.

The technology will be tested on the 47 plows for a year and then there are plans to expand the technology to more trucks.

This tool will give a better idea of which roads are being plowed. Between the end of Dec. 2017 and Jan. of 2018 so far, there have been five reported accidents involving snow plows on North Dakota highways.